Ex-Cop Pleads Guilty to Misconduct, Sentenced to Probation

The Patch.org Foundation, hinsdale.patch.com
BYLINE: Joe O'Donnell,
Link to Article

Clarendon Hills, IL

Numerous felony counts against Daniel Ryan were dropped in a plea agreement that led to two years' probation for official misconduct.


Former Clarendon Hills police officer Daniel Ryan pleaded guilty to official misconduct Friday and was sentenced to two years' probation. Credit Courtesy of DuPage State's Attorney

Former Clarendon Hills police officer Daniel Ryan pleaded guilty to felony official misconduct Friday and was sentenced to two years’ probation nearly 10 months after he was charged with stealing six guns from the Clarendon Hills Police Department’s evidence room.

Ryan was originally charged with two counts of aggravated possession of a stolen firearm, five counts of unlawful possession of a stolen firearm, one count of theft, and three counts of official misconduct when he was arrested last spring.

The 49-year-old Westmont resident pleaded guilty to one of the official misconduct counts, a Class 3 felony, according to prosecutor Helen Kapas. The other charges were dropped. Ryan will pay no fines.

Ryan’s lawyer, Jeff Kendall, said two years probation, coupled with the facts that his client lost his job and cannot work as a police officer again, is a “strong punishment.”

“He’s extremely remorseful and sorry for letting the [Clarendon Hills Police Department] down,” Kendall said after the hearing at the DuPage County Judicial Center in Wheaton.

Ryan turned himself in on May 13, 2011. A joint investigation by the FBI and DuPage State's Attorney Investigation Division had been ongoing since February of 2011, according to Kapas.

The guns Ryan was accused of taking from the evidence room between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2007, according to DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin's office, are an Ithaca M1911 A1 World War II U.S. Army .45 caliber gun; a .22 caliber Short Butler; a Smith and Wesson .38 caliber Airlight Special; a Mossberg 590 12 gauge shotgun; and a Connecticut Valley Bobcat .50 caliber gun.

The guns were given to the department via a community turn-in program and none of the guns were used in crimes.

According to the plea agreement read by Kapas to Judge Daniel Guerin, Ryan sold two of the six guns to two cousins who are police officers in the Willowbrook and Darien police departments.

“He obtained money that was used to pay bills,” Kapas said.

One of the guns, the Ithaca M1911, will be donated to the Cantigny War Museum in Wheaton, according to the plea agreement. The other five guns have been or will be destroyed.

Clarendon Hills Police Chief Ted Jenkins attended Friday’s hearing and provided a written statement from the department.

“Chief Jenkins and members of the Clarendon Hills Police Department offer their sincerest thanks to State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin, his staff and members of the FBI investigative team for their efforts to insure that the Clarendon Hills Police Department is only staffed by officers who honorably serve with the highest integrity and commitment to service,” the statement reads.

Kendall said Ryan's probation is effective immediately.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
International Association for Property and Evidence
"Law Enforcement Serving the Needs of Law Enforcement"
www.IAPE.org